The study aimed to develop and validate awareness of symptoms and risk factors for ovarian and cervical cancer.
The potentially relevant items were extracted from the literature and generated by experts. Four validation studies were carried out to establish reliability and validity. Women were aged 21–67 years, and ovarian and cervical cancer experts were included in the analyses. Internal reliability was assessed psychometrically. Test-retest reliability was evaluated over a 1-week interval. To establish the construct validity, CAM scores of cancer experts were compared with equally well-educated comparison groups. Sensitivity to change was tested by randomly assigning participants to read either a leaflet giving information about ovarian/cervical cancer or a booklet with control information and then completing the ovarian/cervical CAM.
Internal reliability and test-retest reliability were both high. Validity was demonstrated with cancer experts achieving higher scores than controls, and volunteers who were randomized to read a cancer leaflet scored higher than those who received a control leaflet.
This study concluded that the psychometric properties of the ovarian and cervical CAMs and supports their utility in assessing ovarian and cervical cancer awareness in the general population.
Reference: https://srh.bmj.com/content/38/3/167
